Admission Essay: Knowing What To Write And What To Avoid

Before you begin to write your essay you must decide on a topic that will be interesting and engaging for the reader. Consequently, topic selection is perhaps the most stressful yet important part of the admission essay process. It is important to brainstorm different topics and focus on the key aspects on which you could elaborate. This exercise may take some time but the results you will gain from thoughtfully exploring various topics will only enhance your final draft.

Remember that the essay is designed for the benefit of the admissions officers to learn more about you and your personality. The admissions officers are interested in learning about your views on various issues and how well your views are expressed. Having this important information puts them in a better position to decide whether or not to offer you admission to their college. Remember that they want to know more about you than just your admission test scores and high school grades. The issues you may choose to write about may come from personal life experiences such as how you dealt with a serious illness or tragedy, to politics, environmental issues, or social issues affecting young people. Your topic should be thought provoking. After all, if you are not able to write something worth reading, your essay will be skimmed and not highly regarded.

Generally speaking, your essay should be comprised of three parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. I have outlined some basic guidelines for each section below.

Introduction The introduction of the essay should engage the reader and create intrigue. If you begin with a dry lead sentence you will set a boring tone for your reader. Applicants can pique the interest of the admissions staff by leading off with an interesting fact, amusing anecdote, or by painting a picture which brings the reader in to the story. It is not wise to begin with a summary of the details to follow in the body of the essay. This will only give the reader an opportunity to discontinue reading your paper after the introduction since the reader knows what to expect. In other words, do not spoil the surprise. Let the reader wonder where the intriguing introduction will bring them.
Body Your thoughts and ideas should be connected to each other and flow well throughout your essay. Be sure to include details that tell your story well. An example below illustrates this point dramatically:
Before: I developed a new compassion for the disabled.
After: The next time Mrs. Cooper asked me to help her across the street, I smiled and immediately took her arm.
With these helpful hints, you should be on your way to writing an essay that will be well received by the admissions staff.

Conclusion A good conclusion summarizes the views you expressed in the body in a positive and concise manner. Remember that you are not writing a persuasive paper attempting to get the reader to agree with your views or position. Your task is to demonstrate how well you can organize and convey your thoughts. Be sure to avoid the use of cliches such as 'all in all' and 'in conclusion' as they are trite and unimaginative.

When your essay is completed, be sure to proofread it carefully. The spell checkers in word processing programs cannot catch errors in which 'here' is used instead of 'her' or where a word has been used improperly such as 'abstain' instead of 'sustain'. Have other people read your essay for content and clarity. You don't want an easy to avoid error to be the reason you do not gain admission to the school of your choice.

联合译通版权所有, 请勿转载.